


Lance is the trophy

by Queerklancing



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, Hunk and Pidge are the cheer squad, Jealousy, Lance is a flustered mess, M/M, Racing, Shiro is done™, keith is jealous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-15 00:38:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9212027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerklancing/pseuds/Queerklancing
Summary: Lance doesn’t know how to handle flirtatious people. Usually he’s the one who’s doing all the sweet -talk, but he’s utterly helpless, when he’s the one on the receiving end.And as it turns out, Keith can't handle people who are flirting with Lance.And he sure isn't going to back out of a challenge.





	

**Author's Note:**

> SO this story was inspired by a picture of my beautiful friend and artist Mei! [THIS](http://lnmei.tumblr.com/post/154400301274/real-romance-is-sci-fi-hoverbike-dates-dont) is it! Seriously look at it it's SO beautiful!! And because I love her, and klance and hoverbikes, I decided to write this little story :D And I don't have a clue why my brain came up with this kind of story but... well it happend. :D I wrote this in like three days and I'm at it again with the bad fic titles lmao I still hope that some of you'll like it :D

Keith wakes up to the alarms blaring through the castle. He's immediately on his legs, putting on his clothes in a hurry while cursing. He used to sleep fully clothed but after a few months in space Lance found out and wouldn’t stop nagging him about it.

Keith finally rushes out of his room, pulling on his gloves while he runs. He comes to a halt, when he sees Shiro and Pidge standing in the control room.

“What happened?” Keith asks with tension in his voice. Hunk enters a minute later with tired eyes and a big yawn.  Lance is nowhere to be found. Typical.

Shiro turns around to welcome them with a shrug. There’s a confused expression on his face, but he seems calm. Keith immediately relaxes.

“Apparently, there’s something wrong with the castle,” Pidge answers instead and Keith follows her gaze to Coran, who hurriedly types at a display in front of him.

“What’s happening?! Are we under attack?!” Lance slides into the room and Hunk has to catch him, so he won’t fall face first into the room.

He’s out of breath and his hair is a mess. Keith notices that there’s still some of the green substance on his cheek, which is supposed to be a moisturizing face mask, but Keith suspects it’s just watered down space goo. Keith feels his hand twitch with the desire to wipe it away with his thump, so he crosses his arms.

“Look who’s finally made it,” Keith sneers at him. Lance doesn’t answer and instead sticks out his tongue in a childish gesture.

It’s cute. Keith scoffs and turns around, before his face reveals his thoughts.

“Allura, what’s wrong?”

It’s Shiro who finally speaks up.  Allura turns around, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“The wormhole generator isn’t working.”

“It must’ve taken damage in the last fight,” Coran chimes in. He stops typing and joins the Paladins.

“Can we get it fixed?” Pidge asks and Keith is sure that she’s already working out a plan behind those glasses.

“We need a specialist to fix it. One wrong move and BOOM!”, Coran yells, dramatically imitating an explosion. “We’re all space dust.”

“Great,” Hunk whines.

“So basically, we’re living in a giant space castle bomb,” Lance sums up and takes a step forward so he’s standing next to Keith.

Keith sends him a quick glance which was a _huge_ mistake. Lance found the spot on his face, wipes it away and casually licks it from his fingers.

Keith clears his throat.

So, it was space goo after all.

“Technically…. Yes,” Coran answers and Keith is thankful for the distraction. He tries to focus on Allura’s words and not think about the flash of a pink tongue that’s causing his face to heat up.

“The Alteans always had great connections to all kind of engineers in the universe,” Allura explains. “And I know just the right one for this job,” she says with a triumphant smile.

 

* * *

 

 

“Welcome to Oabos!” Coran says and spreads out his arms in a welcoming gesture. The planet in front of them has a calming presence, covered in soft pastel covers. The sky is glowing in different shades of blue, with low hanging, purple clouds. A big sun is illuminating the scenery below them in a faint pink hue.

“It’s beautiful,” Hunk whispers in awe.

“We’re lucky that we were in the same solar system,” Allura says. “A long friendship connects the Altean with the people of Oabos. I’m sure we’ll get help here.”

“Time to suit up,” Shiro says in that commanding tone that immediately gets Keith moving.

“Wait!”

Keith freezes on his way to the door, when Allura speaks up and someone runs into him. He turns around to find Lance rubbing his nose.

“Dude! Be careful!”

“You’re the one who ran into me.”

Lance pulls a face, when he feels his nose. He’s still standing close to Keith and it doesn’t seem like he plans to take a step back. He’s so close that Keith can see the faint freckles covering the bridge of his nose. Technically, Keith could also step back, but he doesn’t.

It took Keith a while to accept the fact that the feeling of annoyance he had, when Lance was close to him, turned into something else entirely. That he got nervous every time Lance accidently touched him. And how he slowly realized that these small touches weren’t by accident at all.

“There’s no need for you to change. I don’t want the people of Oabos to feel threatened,” Allura explains and Keith immediately furrows his eyebrows.

“I don’t like that, princess.”

Lance finally turns around and Keith can breathe again. Lance is still standing so close that their shoulders brush.

“I agree. It’s always good to be cautious,” Shiro says and his whole body goes tense when Allura glares at him.

“They are our friends. I trust them.”

Her tone makes it _very_ clear that she doesn’t accept any more protest.

“Yes, princess,” Shiro answers in a quiet voice.

“Good.” Allura’s face changes into a bright smile. “Let’s greet our friends.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, this is _not_ what I was expecting,” Hunk says when they land and leave the castle. Keith agrees. He doesn’t know what exactly he was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t this. The planet is covered in huge piles of … trash? Keith can’t tell. Almost the whole area is covered in piles consisting of all kinds of metal and ship parts. Some of them are so high, Keith is scared they might crumble any minute now.

They start walking carefully through this maze of trash.

“What’s all this trash!” Lance exclaims and pokes a pipe that sticks out of a particular huge pile. A dangerous tremble vibrates through it. Keith takes a step forwards, grabs Lance by his collar and pulls him back.

“Stop that!”

Lance yelps and helplessly flails his arms.

“Stop squirming! Do you want to get us as killed under a landslide of trash?!”

“Oh, come on! It wasn’t that dangerous!” Lance retorts, but gulps when he sees that the trash tower is still shaking.

“Okay, fine! I get it!” Lance crosses his arms and pouts.

“Good,” Keith answers. He’s still holding the back of Lance’s jacket in a firm grip. His strong pull made the fabric shift and reveals the tanned skin underneath. Keith feels heat spreading on his cheeks and he quickly releases Lance.

His fingers brush the back of Lance’s neck in the process and Lance makes an adorable squeaky sound at the touch. Lance turns around with a glare in his eyes and a blush on his cheeks.

“Guys, stop it,” Shiro says with a disapproving look on his face. “We’re not here to play around.”

“I wasn’t playing! I was inspecting the trash!” Lance exclaims and starts walking next to Keith.

“This isn’t trash. The people of Oabos collect all kind of ship parts so they can help travelers from all over the universe,” Coran explains while they continue walking.

“My father often took me with him, when I was a child. This place was always crowded with people from all over the universe,” Allura says and there’s a fond look in her eyes.

“Well, this place doesn’t seem very … lively”, Hunk adds, while stepping over another metal part.

Allura’s face darkens and she knits her brows in a furious expression. Keith is sure that everyone thinks the same thing. Everything dies under the rule of the Galra empire.

They walk the rest of the way in silence, but Keith doesn’t miss the way Lance scoots a little closer to him.

After a while they reach the middle of the trash maze. It’s a small and run- down shack with a sign in a language Keith can’t read. A tiny figure is sitting on a bench in front. They lift their head when the group arrives and Allura immediately takes a step forward.

The person in front of them seems to be a tiny old man. At least that’s what Keith thinks. His eyes are covered by a bushy set of eyebrows, he has huge pointy ears and his skin is a washed out yellow.

“It can’t be… are you... Altean?” The tiny man asks and Keith wonders how he can see anything.

Allura nods and smiles. “Yes, I’m princess Allura.”

“The princess,” the man repeats in awe and tries to get down from the bench to bow. Allura immediately stops him.

“Please! There’s no need for that!”

The man sinks back with a groan. “It’s been centuries since I last saw an Altean. These days only a few lonely travelers find their way to our planet.”

Keith misses the next part of the conversation because suddenly Lance is leaning into his side, covering his mouth with one hand.

“He look like a yellow Yoda!,” he hisses and it’s so loud that Pidge turns around to glare at him.

“You know, you’re supposed to speak quietly and directly into someone’s ear if you want to whisper something,” Keith says with a raised eyebrow.

Lance leans back and sputters: “W-Well maybe I don’t want to get too close to your stupid mullet!”

“Yeah, right,” Keith scoffs and rolls his eyes. Keith sends a quiet prayer to god because he would probably combust on the spot, if Lance got so close that Keith could feel his breath ghosting over his ear. The thought alone sends a pleasant but unwelcome shiver down his spine.

It’s not really a secret that Keith has a crush on Lance. By now he’s sure that everyone knows. Including Lance. And Keith is _almost_ sure that Lance likes him back.

There are touches and looks that linger a second too long to be casual. And there was that one time, after Keith had made a pretty risky flight move to escape a Galra fighter, when Lance came running towards him, took Keith’s head between his hands and laughed triumphantly. And for a second Keith was _sure_ that Lance would kiss him, but then the moment was gone and they never talked about it.

Keith shakes his head. This isn’t the right time to think about these kinds of things. He snaps back into realty when another alien leaves the shack.

“That’s my grandson Awrik. He’ll help you with everything you need.” The old man says and the other aliens raises his hand to greet them.

The first thing Keith notices is that the guy is _huge_. Probably even taller than Shiro. His ears are also pointy but smaller and his skin is a blueish grey. There’s a big lopsided grin on his face that reveals sharp teeth. With his dark hair he almost looks like a handsome vampire.

“Nice to meet ya,” he says in a weird accent and it seems like that grin is glued to his lips. “How can I help?”

Coran briefly explains the situation to him and Awrik rubs his chin. “Well first I have to take a look at the generator and then we’ll have to search for the parts. But I’m positive that I’ll get that thing going today.”

Allura claps her hands together and cheers. “That’s great news!”

“It’s not a big deal,” Awrik laughs and Keith hears Lance mumble next to him. “Well it’s a big deal, if he blows us all up.”

Awrik’s eyes land on Lance and his grin widens even more. “You don’t trust me?”

Lance flinches and waves his hands defensively. “No! I didn’t mean it like that! I .. uh…”

Awrik laughs aloud and claps Lance’s shoulder.

“It’s fine.”

Then Awrik smiles down at him, his hand still on Lance’s shoulder, and suddenly Keith sees something in his eyes that he doesn’t like at _all._

“I’m sorry, he’s an idiot,” Pidge sighs and shakes her head in disappointment.

“We’re really grateful for your help”, Shiro adds with a smile for Awrik and a glare for Lance.

“Don’t mention it. We don’t get many costumers these days, so I’m happy to help.”

Awrik’s hand is still on Lance’s shoulder and an uneasy feeling spreads in Keith’s chest.

“Still, we’d like to thank you,” Allura says. “We don’t have much, but if there’s anything we can do to compensate you for your help, please say so.”

Awrik tilts his head while he contemplates the question for a second.

“Hm, something I want….”

There’s a short pause before the grin reappears on his lips.

“Then I’ll take this one.”

And all of a sudden, he grabs Lance by the waist and pulls him into his arms. Lance yelps in surprise and his hands hold onto Awrik’s shirt. Lance stares at him blankly for the split of a second and then his face lights up in a bright crimson.

“H-Huh?!”

Keith doesn’t even realize that he pulls his knife out from the holster at his waist, he just darts forward without thinking. But suddenly there’s a strong arm pushing him back. Keith turns to glare at whoever is trying to hold him back and Hunk flinches in surprise.

“Dude, stop!” Hunk urges and looks at him with surprised but worried eyes and somehow Keith snaps out of it.

Hunk moves slowly like he’s dealing with a dangerous animal and Keith unclenches his hand, so Hunk can take the knife out of it. Shiro sends him a worried look, but it seems like no one else noticed his outburst.

“Uhm Lance is an important part of the team. We can’t just … hand him over”, Allura says in an appeasing tone that only fuels the anger in Keith’s veins.

He’s glad that Hunk has his knife.

“Let him go. Now.” His voice is dripping with venom and everyone turns to look at him with wide eyes.

Keith’s hands are balled into fists as he stares Awrik down and that guy has the audacity to laugh.

“It was just a joke! Calm down” he snickers and then looks at Lance. “Although I wouldn’t mind taking you with me, if you want.”

Keith was so occupied with glaring at Awrik that he only now realizes that Lance is looking at him. He looks like a deer in the headlights, eyes widened in shock and his face red all the way up to his ears.

Keith is burning with anger, he wants to pry Lance out of his arms _now_ and punch that asshole in the face.  

Lance flinches when he finally realizes that Awrik is talking to him and tears his gaze away from Keith.

“Uhm, I… “, Lance sputters, clears his throat and tries to smile.

“That’s … uh really flattering, but I can’t just… leave,” he says and slowly wriggles his way out of Awrik’s hug.

“That’s a shame,” Awrik says and finally let’s go of Lance.

Hunk let’s out a breath of relief and drops his arm. Keith immediately steps forward and pulls Lance out of Awrik’s reach. He sends him another glare before he turns to Lance.

“Are you okay?” he asks quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear the concern in his voice. He’s still holding Lance by the wrist and Lance’s head snaps up when Keith talks to him. Lance swallows and nods, his cheeks are still dusted in a faint pink.

“Oh, come on. I wasn’t trying to kidnap him,” Awrik laughs and Keith whips around to look daggers at him.

“I was only looking for some nice company,” he says with a smile and looks at Lance. “So will you show me your ship?”

“Yeah! Right, the ship!” Lance says hurriedly and takes a step back. His wrist glides out of Keith’s grip.

“Coran can show you the generator.”

“Oh I’m sure you’ll do a great job, too,” Awrik says with a toothy smile that makes Keith want to knock out all of his teeth.

“Uh, well I don’t really know where the generator is, so Coran has to tag along.”

“I’ll show you the way!” And with that Coran starts walking ahead.

Keith wants to catch up with Lance, but Awrik is immediately at his side, putting an arm around Lance’s shoulder to pull him along.

Keith takes a step forward, ready to push himself between them, when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Here.”

He turns around to see Hunk with his knife in his hand and a worried expression on his face.

Keith takes it and angrily puts it back in his holster.

“I don’t like that guy.”, Keith hisses when he looks at Awrik and sees how Lance tries to free himself from his grip but seems to give up after one try.

“Yeah that much was obvious,” Hunk snorts. “But you can’t just kill the guy because he’s flirting with Lance.”

Keith whips around to glare at Hunk.

“I wasn’t… trying to kill him!”

“Dude! You pulled out your knife!”

Hunk raises his eyebrows and Keith opens his mouth to defend himself but he really can’t argue with that. He sighs instead.

“You’re right. I might have … overreacted. “

Hunk smiles and pats his shoulder in a soothing manner.

Keith sighs again. He’s glad that Hunk was there to hold him back, he doesn’t know what he would’ve done otherwise. Keith always had a temper. It got better under Shiro’s training, but … as always Keith can’t keep his cool when Lance is involved.

“Keith is jeaaaaaalous,” Pidge chimes in in a sing song voice and walks past them.

“I’m not jealous!” Keith bristles with anger, but Pidge either really doesn’t hear him or pretends like she doesn’t. Hunk just pats his shoulder again with a sympathetic sigh and follows Pidge.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, we’re looking for a connection pipe, about this long.”

Awrik spreads his hands apart to show them the length.

“It should be around here somewhere.”

He points to three big piles of trash, or ship parts or whatever, Keith really doesn’t care.

“Great, now we have to crawl around in piles of trash.”

Keith only listens to Hunk’s complaining with one ear because he’s too occupied to stare at Awrik, who is pulling Lance along with him again. Keith can see Lance’s fake smile, sees his uncomfortable stance, and groans.

“I don’t get it,” Keith spits. “Why isn’t he telling that guy to back off?”

“Maybe he likes him,” Pidge teases and Keith whips around so fast he gets dizzy.

“He clearly doesn’t,” he growls and Pidge raises her hands in a soothing manner.

“Lance is just trying to be nice,” Hunk says without looking up from the trash pile. “He’s not good at rejecting others.” Hunk shrugs and Keith only grumbles in response.

They search quietly for a while and Keith is _really_ trying to focus on the task at hand but it’s useless.

“I’m going to go search over there,” he finally says and this time Pidge doesn’t say anything, just gives him a knowing but affectionate smile.

Keith makes his way to the next trash pile, which Lance already climbed. At least Awrik isn’t glued to him anymore and actually does some work, while searching at the bottom of the pile. Keith makes his way to the top.

“Hey.”

“Oh! Hey Keith!”

Lance’s smile is warm and bright and most important: It’s real. Keith immediately relaxes and smiles back.

Lance abruptly averts his eyes at that and he starts fidgeting. His voice cracks when he talks again.

“Uh, so how’s it going over there, found anything?”

Keith can’t help the grin that’s finding its way onto his lips. He decides that Lance is also cute when he’s embarrassed.

“Nope. That’s why I’m here to help you.”

“Tze! Do you think I can’t handle this myself?”

“Well you always manage to attract trouble.”

Lance gasps.

“I’ll have you know that I can take care of myself just fine! Thank you!”

Lance returns to search the trash in front of him with a pout on his face. Keith chuckles but starts looking for that pipe as well. He wants to get that generator fixed as fast as possible so they can leave this stupid planet.

This time Keith actually manages to focus for a while, but is ripped out of his trance, when he hears Pidge shouting.

“Found it!”

“Finally!” Lance groans and stretches his arms high in the air with a satisfied hum.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says with a grin and tries to climb down from the pile. His legs are shaking with the effort to stand upright and Keith wants to tell him to be careful, when it happens.

Lance slips on something and screams. Keith is already on his feet, reaching out to stop him from falling, but he’s too late.

Awrik’s hands are on Lance’s waist and he guides him down the rest of the way, not letting go even when Lance is back on the ground.

“Uh, thanks, buddy,” Lance laughs and pulls Awrik’s hands from his waist.

“No problem,” Awrik answers with a smile and Keith sees red.

Lance jogs over to the other’s and Keith slides down the trash pile.

Before Awrik can follow Lance, Keith grabs his arm, maybe a little bit harder than necessary, and turns him around.

“I need to talk to you,” he says and he really tries not to make it sound like a threat.

“Sure. What is it?” There’s a devilish smile on Awrik’s lips and Keith takes a deep breath before he answers.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about.”

And scratch that, Keith wants it to sound like a threat.

“He clearly doesn’t like what you’re doing.”

“Well I think he can tell me himself if he really doesn’t like it,” Awrik sneers. “What, are you his mate or something?”

Keith cringes at the word.

“No,” he hisses.

“So why do you care?”

Keith closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. _Don’t kill him._

“Look, I’m just asking you to stop it.”

“Oh, I get it!” Awrik says and the grin gets even wider. “You like him!”

Keith tightens his grip on Awrik’s arm.

“That’s _not_ the reason I’m telling you to stop.” His voice is shaking with the effort to keep calm.

“No, let’s settle this.”

“Huh?” Keith is so startled by this declaration that he lets go of Awrik’s arm.

“You can fly right? Let’s race. The winner gets the boy.”

Keith is staring at him in disbelief.

“He isn’t some kind of trophy you can win! I’m not telling you to back off because I want him. I’m telling you, because he doesn’t like it!”

Keith voice is getting louder with every word he says, anger fueling his body.

“Are you scared?” There’s a mocking grin on Awrik’s face and Keith finally snaps. He grabs Awrik by the collar and pulls him down.

“I’m not scared!”

“It’s okay to be scared. I’m sure that I’m a better pilot anyway,” Awrik teases.

“You know what. Fine. It’s on.”  

 

* * *

 

 

Lance doesn’t know how to handle flirtatious people. Usually he’s the one who’s doing all the sweet -talk, but he’s utterly helpless, when he’s the one on the receiving end.

And Lance stopped flirting altogether the moment he realized that he’s in love with Keith. He wanted Keith to know that he’s not interested in anyone else, but without saying it to his face. Lance isn’t really good at hiding his feelings, so he’s sure that Keith got the message.

But not hiding your feelings and openly declaring them are two _very_ different things. So basically, Lance is waiting for Keith to make his move.

And by now Lance is sure that Keith likes him, because Keith is _jealous._

Sure, Lance is bothered by Awrik’s advances, mostly because he’s so flustered, that he doesn’t know what to do. But… Lance would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy the way Keith reacted. That he’s so obviously angry about the fact that someone is flirting with _him_!

His stomach does a flip whenever he thinks back to the gentle tone of Keith’s voice, his worried eyes, how he pulled him close. Lance presses his lips close together so that he won’t squeal in delight.

It’s… nice.

However, he’s ripped out of his daydreams when he hears Keith yell something. Lance turns around to see him talking to Awrik. He’s still too far away to hear what Keith is saying but he can see the anger on his face.

“Oh no,” Hunk says with a fearful voice and Shiro and Pidge lift their gaze from the pipe as well.

“What is he doing now,” Shiro says exasperated, when Awrik and Keith start walking in their direction. Lance has a bad feeling about it.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Lance asks when they reach their group. There’s a dangerous glare in Keith’s eyes that almost makes him flinch. He’s sure that he never saw him _this_ angry. Keith doesn’t stop to answer him though.

“Just follow us,” Awrik answers over his shoulder and the rest of the paladins hurry to catch up.

“Wait! What exactly is happening right now?” Pidge says but follows them anyway.

“I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Shiro murmurs and Lance agrees with a nod.

They finally reach the shack, Allura and Coran are still talking to the old man and look up when they pass them. They circle the tiny building to reveal a row of neatly rowed up hoverbikes.

“Okay, guys seriously what are you doing?” Panic is starting to spread in Lance’s stomach and his voice sounds a little bit shaky.

Keith finally stops and turns around to look at them.

“We’re going to race each other.”

Before Lance has the chance to sort out his thoughts or say anything, Keith turns away to inspect the hoverbikes.

“You can choose any bike you want,” Awrik says and gestures to the vehicles in question.

Keith walks straight up to a red bike that looks almost exactly like the one he had back on earth.

“Wait, wait wait!”, Hunk says and Lance is glad that someone’s trying to get an explanation for this situation. “Do you even know how to fly these things?”

Lance groans and looks at Hunk with a disbelieving expression.

“THAT’s what you want to know?!”

Hunk shrugs but Keith has already climbed the bike and starts the engine.

“I can fly anything, Hunk.”

Lance can’t help but roll his eyes at that. Although he knows that Keith is saying the truth.

He helplessly looks to Shiro, when Keith and Awrik get their bikes in position. Shiro just lets out a deep drawn sight. He doesn’t look like he plans to stop them.

“Okay, but seriously is no one going to ask the most important question?”, Pidge says while Awrik seems to explain the course of the race to Keith.

“Why?!”

Awrik grins and gets on his hoverbike as well.

“The winner gets to keep the trophy.”

“Okay, and what exactly is the trophy?!” Lance asks unnerved, his arms are crossed and his eyebrows are raised in confusion.

“You obviously,” Awrik says.

Lance’s arms drop to his sides.

He hears how Hunk cheers and Shiro groans but it all sounds muffled.

Lance lifts his gaze and his eyes find Keith’s.

The bike is hovering over the ground and Lance has to tilt his head back to look at Keith. He stares at him for a few seconds and blinks in confusion. He opens his mouth but closes it again. His brain stopped functioning.

Keith seems to be waiting for his reaction, he looks determined to win and that is _freaking hot_. Lance heart is beating hard in his chest. He wants to say something but his mouth is so dry he can only swallow.

“Come on, let’s settle this,” Awrik rushes and Keith sends him a quick glare. When he turns back to Lance there’s a tight, confident smile on his lips.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to win.”

An embarrassing, high pitched squeal leaves Lance’s lips as he stumbles a step backwards and sinks weakly against Hunk’s chest. His face bursts into flames and Hunk whistles, while he holds Lance up.

“That was like right straight out of a romance movie.”

Shiro takes a step forward and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Okay, let’s get this over with so we can go back to work.”

He positions himself between the two bikes and raises his arms to give them a signal.

Lance is holding onto Hunk for dear life, his heart still going crazy in his chest.

“Go loose, Keith!” Pidge laughs and Keith revs the engine in response.

“Ready?”, Shiro says and Keith and Awrik both nod.

“Go!”

“Get him lover boy!”, Hunk yells when the hoverbikes start with a loud roar of the engines.

The last thing Lance sees is how Awrik gets a head start and then the bikes disappear behind a pile of trash.

Lance’s fingers bite into Hunk’s arm.

“Is that really happening right now?” he croaks and Hunk laughs while violently patting his back.

“Yes! So stop swooning and start cheering!” Pidge says excitedly, grabs Lance arm and pulls him along. Hunk puts his hands on Lance’s back to push him. Lance is glad for the support because his knees are so weak, Lance doubts he could take a single step on his own.

They reach a tiny hill right above the spot which Lance assumes is the finish line. He wasn’t listening when Awrik explained the course.

“There!”

Pidge points in a direction and now Lance can also see the bikes in a distance. He can see the red hoverbike flying through the trash piles at an impossible speed. He’s right on Awrik’s tail, waiting for an opening.

“What is he doing?!” Hunk shrieks and now he’s the on holding onto Lance.

Awrik has an advantage, because he knows the area, but … this is Keith they are talking about. And Lance would _never_ admit it out loud, but he’s the best pilot Lance has ever met.

And at the next turn, Keith takes his chance. He cuts the corner in a slide that gets him dangerously close to a trash pile, he barely manages to wrench his bike between the pile and Awrik, a move only he could pull off, and Lance sees how he leans low on his bike, when he speeds up to leave Awrik behind him for good.  

Lance grabs Hunk’s neck and nearly chokes him when he cheers. Pidge is hopping up and down, while screaming incoherently.

“Look at him! That’s the pilot of the red lion!” Hunk yells and he sounds just as proud as Lance feels.

They are so close now that Lance can see Awrik’s angry expression. Keith managed to wipe that grin off his face.

“Lance, what are you waiting for! Go!” Hunk urges suddenly and pushes Lance. Lance stumbles and then he’s running downhill as fast as he can. Shiro is standing at the finish line and Lance almost runs him over when he arrives there at the same time as Keith.

The hoverbike drifts sideways, when Keith comes to a stop in front of him. There’s a wide grin on his face, when he looks down at Lance. There’s the distant sound of another hoverbike coming to a stop next to them, but Lance doesn’t have eyes for anyone else.

Keith is stunningly beautiful.

The sun is high in the sky and shines like a halo around Keith’s head, when he holds out his hand to Lance.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Lance’s breath hitches, but he stumbles forward to grab Keith’s hand without a second thought. Keith pulls him up like he weights nothing, and Lance finds himself pressed close to his back.

He sees how Shiro shakes his head but smiles fondly. Hunk and Pidge scream in delight and then everything is drowned in the sound of a starting hoverbike.

And they’re flying.

Lance tightly wraps his arms around Keith’s waist when he goes faster.

“I can’t believe you!” he screams with laughter and he doesn’t know if Keith heard him but he feels the vibration of his laughter beneath his hands.

They are flying through the maze of piles, and after a while they leave the trash behind and a beautiful scenery opens before them. Purple flowers are growing everywhere and they fly over a green lake. Water splashes around when the blast of the turbines hits the surface.

Happiness is bubbling in Lance’s stomach and he nuzzles Keith’s mullet. He giggles when Keith leans into the touch.

There’s an open plain at the other side of the lake and Keith slowly lower’s the bike, before he kills the engine.

He slips out of his seat and turns around. Keith’s hair is a mess, but he looks so beautiful when he smiles, that Lance can’t even make fun of him for that.

Lance isn’t confident that his legs will carry him right now, so he just swings his right leg over the back of the bike to face Keith.

The grin on Keith’s face grows wider and there’s a nervous flutter in Lance’s stomach.

“What?” he asks with a lopsided grin.

“I won.”

“Yeah, I was there,” Lance laughs but his heart is beating faster in his chest.

“Aren’t you going to thank me?”

“Technically, it was your fault for accepting a stupid bet like that,” Lance scoffs, but there’s no way he can stop smiling.

“Well someone had to tell that guy to fuck off,” Keith says, takes a step forward and puts his left hand on the handle bar.

Lance chuckles. “And the only way to do that was to beat him in a race?”

“It was his idea, also he was stupid enough to think that he’s a better pilot than me.”

Lance feigns a dramatic gasp. “How could he?!”

Keith kicks his shin and there’s a second in which they just look at each other.

“Sooo,” Lance draws out the words and scoots a little bit closer.

“So?”

Keith takes another step forward and now he’s so close that his legs are touching Lance’s knees.

Lance’s fingers are trembling when he reaches out to put his hand on top of Keith’s. His face heats up, when Keith immediately laces their fingers together.

Lance swallows nervously, and he doesn’t know where this courage is coming from when he looks into Keith’s eyes and says:

“Aren’t you going to claim your price?”

The soft smile he gets in return knocks the breath right out of him.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Oh, shut up!” Lance laughs.

And with that he leans in to kiss that beautiful smile.

 


End file.
